Dr.S.Sundarabalu Dept.of Linguistics

1. The Anatomy and Physiology of
Speech Production(Phonetics)
Sources :John Clark -2007 and J.C.Catford -1989
sundarabalu

2. • The nervous System
• The respiratory system
• The larynx
• Phonation
• The Pharynx
• The velum and the nasal cavity
• The tongue
• The lips

3. The nervous system

4. • The nervous system is usually considered to have
two parts CNS consisting of brain and the spinal
medulla, and PNS consisting of the nerves
distributed through the body.
• From birth , human development shows increasing
evidence that one of the two cerebral hemispheres
is dominant in the functioning of spoken languages.
• The PNS consists of three components: the central
nerves which arise from the brain stem and the
head and neck area (much of which is involved in speech
production), the spinal nerves, which innervate the
trunk and lungs, and the autonomic nervous
system which is responsible for involuntary
activities such as blood flow and breathing

5. • The cranial nerves innervating the vocal tract
consist of mixed nerves- that is , they contain
both efferent (motor) fibers sending muscle
control signals from the CNS , and afferent
(sensory) fibres sending information to the
CNS from receptors in the skin, mucosa and
muscles

6. • The functional unit of the CNS is the NEURON ,
which consists of a nerves cell and its nerve fibre
extensions extensions (or process)

7. Motor neuron

8. • Above figure shows a motor neuron , consisting of a
cell body , the axon (nerve fibre which conducts impulses to
muscles, as shown here, or to other nerves) and dendrites (which
are similar to axons but are shorter and may conduct impulses to neuron). On
the cell body and dendrites are connecting points or
SYNAPSES , which allow connections with other
neurons.

9. • Hence the neuron system consists of a complex
interconnecting network of neural pathways which can
conduct nerve impulses. Muscle commands initiated in
the CNS do not travel to their destination via single
nerve cells . Rather , they may pass across many
synaptic junctions with nearby cells interacting with
and modifying the original command impulse before it
reaches the muscle

10. • Neural signals travelling along nerves fibres take the
form of short impulses of electrochemical energy
caused by the firing of the associated nerve cell. The
magnitude of nerve activity is determined not by the
strength of amplitude of the pulse but by the number
of pulses per unit of time travelling down the axon.
• A nerve cell can fire only if the impulse energy arriving
at one or more of its synapses is above a threshold
level. Beyond that level any increase will have no
further effect. This ‘ all-or – none ’ principal is reflected
in the behaviour of muscle fibre.

13. • The respiratory system

14. • The respiratory system(aside from the upper
airways in the supraglottal vocal tract ) is contained
within the chest, or Thorax. It consists of the barrel-shaped
rip structure which forms the side of the
thoracic cage itself, the associated rib structure
which forms the side of the thoracic cage itself, the
associated muscles, and the lung structure
contained within it.
• In the process of inspiration and expiration in the
normal respiratory cycle, they perform the vital
function of replenishing oxygen and removing
unwanted carbon dioxide from the blood

15. • The lungs are connected to
the wind pipe , or TRACHEA
by two bronchial tubes
which join at the base of the
trachea. Within each lung
the bronchial tubes divide
into smaller and smaller
tubes, or bronchioles, which
distribute the air supply
throughout the lung. the
two lungs actually form a
single mechanical unit.

16. The larynx
• The basic function of the larynx is as a
valve in the respiratory system. Thus
in the process of swallowing , the
larynx is automatically shut to ensure
that food or drink pass through the
pharyngeal cavity into the esophagus
(a muscular tube for the passage of food from the
pharynx to the stomach) and not into the
windpipe. The value action of the
larynx is also important in short- term
physical exertion as a means of
stiffening the thorax when we inhale
deeply and hold our breath. In
speech, the larynx is important as a
source of sound and as an articulator.

17. Coronal slice through the larynx;
rear portion removed, leaving front
portion. (Viewed from behind.)

18. Anatomy of Vocal Organs

19. • Phonation

20. • THE FUNCTIONAL COMPONENTS OF SPEECH
• From the organic-aerodynamic point of view the
production of speech-sounds involves two essential
functional components:
• (1) some method of initiating a flow of air in and
through the vocal tract-that is, some form of
initiation, as we call it; and
• (2) some method of shaping or articulating the air-stream
so as to generate a specific type of sound-that
is, some form of articulation.

21. • There is a third functional component of speech-production,
present in most, but not all, sounds,
and consisting of certain types of modulation of the
air-stream as it passes through the larynx-that is
phonation.
• In order to understand the mechanism of speech it
is essential to have a clear conception of these
three functional components-of the forms that they
can take, and of how they interact to produce
speech-sounds.

22. • Initiation : a bellow –like ,or position –liken, movement
of an organ , that generates positive or negative air
pressure adjacent to it in the vocal tract and thus
initiates an egressive (outgoing ) or ingressive (ingoing )
flow of air
• Articulation: an organic posture or movement – most
commonly in the mouth – that modulates the initiatory
airflow in such a way as to generate a sound of some
specific types.
• As we have pointed out , these two components are
essential – without them no specific sound can be
produced . In addition to theses essential components ,
however , every many sounds have a third basic
component that modulates their quality in certain
ways. This component of speech production is called
phonation , and as usual we shall approach it
experimentally

23. Phonation : Basic Component

24. • Principal phonation Types
• Two types of phonation
1. Voiceless (glottis wide open so that air passes
through with minimal obstruction)
2. Voiced (Vocal folds brought together and
thrown into vibration by the passage of air
through the glottis).
But these are only two of several different states of
the glottis that are responsible for phonation

25. • In exploring states of the glottis we start with the
vocal folds as widely separated as possible.
• This is the position of deep breathing .Even when the
folds are as wide separately as possible the larynx
still represent an orifice (An opening, especially to a cavity) only
about half as wide as the windpipe, or trachea, that
extends below it to the lungs.
• Consequently , even the open glottis offers some
resistance to air passing through , and in breathing in
and out one can normally hear some sound
generated by turbulent flow through the open
glottis.
• Only if we slow down our breathing to a considerable
extent is the sound of exhalation and inhalation
abolished.

26. • From this wide –open position ( the state of the
glottis for breathing or for voiceless sound )
• We can narrow the glottis , so that the orifice
present a much greater obstacle to the passage of
air through it , and the flow thus becomes quite
strongly turbulent , generating the
“ hushing” sound that we call whisper.

27. • There is one more type of phonation to be
considered. This is creak . It is very low frequency
‘creaking’ or crackling sound which – perhaps because
it reminds some people of the sputtering noise of
frying eggs or bacon – is sometimes called ‘glottal fry’.
Creak is produced with the glottis completely ( but not
very tightly) closed, except for a small segment near
the front end of the vocal folds which is vibrating
rather slowly.

28. • Four different types of phonation:
1. Voiceless (breath): with the glottis wide open, as in
breathing or the production of voiceless sounds, such as [f
,s, p, t, k,]
2. Whisper: with a considerably narrowed glottis , so that the
highly turbulent air – flow through glottis generates a strong
‘hushing ’ noise : this is the phonation types of whispered
speech, in which whisper is substituted for voiced sounds
(while voiceless sounds remain voiceless ).
3. Voice: the tone produced by the vibrating vocal folds: the
phonation type of all voiced sounds , such as [ v, z, m, l, I, a,
u,]
4. Creak: the crackling sound produced by keeping the vocal
folds closed along most of their length , but allowing the air
to escape in a low frequency series of bursts through a small
vibrating segment near the front end of glottis

29. • Four phonation types and for complete closure.
• In c, and d, is intended to suggest a difference in the
frequency of vocal fold vibration – medium to high
frequency for voice (c),and very low frequency for
creak (d). Note that complete glottal closure is not a
type of phonation.
• Phonation always involves a flow of air through
the glottis

30. • There are various possible combinations of these
types of phonation, the chief ones being breathy
voice, whispery voice (also known as murmur), and
creaky voice.
• Breathy voice : the glottis is rather widely open ,
but the rate of airflow is so high that the vocal folds
are set ‘flapping in the breeze ’ as the air rushes by.
Exhale very strongly, contriving to produce some
voice at the same time . Imagine that you are trying
to blurt out a message when extremely out of
breath , or speaking while sighing deeply

31. • Whispery voice or murmur: the vocal folds are
vibrating to produce voice but at the time there is
a continuous escape of air generating the sound
of whisper. Produce an energetic and prolonged
strong whisper, and while it is going on add voice,
to produce the mixture called ‘whispery voice’.
Producing voice with very relaxed vocal folds may
help.
• Creak voice: proceed start with low – pitched
voice, then go still lower still some creak is heard
mixed with voice- but in this case make no
attempt to produce the pure creak that was the
end result.

32. The Pharynx: The pharynx or pharyngal cavity
is the voice box. This acts as a vibrating
cavity for the sounds produced by the
vibration of the vocal cords. The partial or
complete stoppage of the air-stream can be
achieved by modifying the shape of this cavity
that makes the soft-palate or the tongue act.
(The cavity between the root of the tongue and the
walls of the upper throat.)

33. The Pharynx
• The pharynx is a tube of muscle shaped rather like
an inverted cone. Typically around 12 cm long, it is
lies between the glottis and the base of the skull. It
acts as an air passage for respiration ,aids in the
ingestion of food, and provides drainage for the
nasal passage. It makes a passive contribution to
speech production by forming part of the length of
suraglottal vocal tract, but its geometry and volume
can also be adjusted to vary this contribution or for
other articulatory effects. there are three functional
areas

35. Nasal Cavity
Pharynx
Vocal Cords (within the Larynx)
Trachea
Lungs

36. The velum and the nasal cavity
• The soft palate or VELUM is a continuation of the roof
of the mouth , posterior to the bony structure of the
hard palate. It is consists of a flexible sheet of muscular
tissue covered in mucous membrane ending at the
UVULA , a small tip o f muscle and flexible tissue.

39. The oral cavity

40. In the head we have the organs of articulation and two cavities. :
(i) the oral cavity, and
(ii) the nasal cavity. The oral cavity is the mouth and the
nasal cavity is the nose.
The shape of the mouth cavity depends on the positions of the tongue
and the lips. The roof of the mouth can be divided into the
following three parts;
the alveolar ridge or teeth ridge having hard convex surface just
behind the upper teeth; ALVEOLAR RIDGE
A short distance behind the upper teeth is a change in the angle of the
roof of the mouth. This is the alveolar ridge. Sounds which involve the area
between the upper teeth and this ridge are called alveolars.
the hard palate, (the hard concave surface); (HARD) PALATE
The hard portion of the roof of the mouth. The term "palate" by itself
usually refers to the hard palate.
the soft-palate or the velum at the back, with the uvula at its end
SOFT PALATE/VELUM The soft portion of the roof of the mouth, lying
behind the hard palate. The tongue hits the velum in the sounds [k], [g], and
[N]. The velum can also move: if it lowers, it creates an opening that allows
air to flow out through the nose; if it stays raised, the opening is blocked, and
no air can flow through the nose.
UVULA
The small, dangly thing at the back of the soft palate. The uvula
vibrates during the r sound in many French dialects.

41. VOCAL FOLDS/VOCAL CORDS
Folds of tissue stretched across the airway to the lungs.
They can vibrate against each other, providing much of the
sound during speech.
GLOTTIS
The opening between the vocal cords. During a glottal
stop, the vocal cords are held together and there is no
opening between them.
EPIGLOTTIS
The fold of tissue below the root of the tongue. The epiglottis
helps cover the larynx during swallowing, making sure
(usually!) that food goes into the stomach and not the lungs.
A few languages use the epiglottis in making sounds. English
is fortunately not one of them.

42. VOCAL FOLDS PRODUCING A SOUND AT TWO
DIFFERENT PITCHES

43. The tongue
• With in the oral cavity is the tongue , which makes
the greatest contribution to changes in the volume
and geometry of the cavity. The tongue consists
largely of muscle , with an covering of mucous
membrane and a fibrous septum dividing it
longitudinally

44. The Tongue; The tongue is a very important organ of speech. It
can take up a very large number of different positions for the
articulation of different vowel and consonant sounds. The
tongue has five parts which are as follows:
A. the tip
B, the blade
C. the front
D. the back
E. the root.
The extreme edge of the tongue is called the tip. Immediately
after the tip is the blade and it is the part of the tongue that
lies opposite the teeth-ridge when the speech organs are at
rest. Beyond the blade is the front of the tongue which lies
opposite the hard palate when the speech-organs are at rest.
TONGUE BLADE
The flat surface of the tongue just behind the tip.
TONGUE BODY/DORSUM
The main part of the tongue, lying below the hard and soft palate. The
body, specifically the back part of the body, moves to make vowels and
many consonants.
TONGUE ROOT
The lowest part of the tongue in the throat.

45. The lips
• The Lips: The lips play their part in the
articulation of certain consonants.
For example, the initial sound in the English
words, pill, bil1 and mill are produced with
the lips tightly close. Also, the lips play an
important part during the articulation of
vowel sounds.
The lips assume different positions-spread,
neutral, or rounded-for different vowel
sounds. For example, the vowel in the English
word see is produced with spread lips, that in
the word sat is produced with neutral lips
and that in the word shop is produced with
rounded lips.

46. Speech mechanism

47. 1. The Respiratory System consists of the following organs:
A. The lungs
B. The muscles of chest.
C. The wind-pipe ('trachea').
2. The phonatory system: is formed by the larynx. It is generally
called 'voice-box' It is box like space at the top of the wind-pipe,
containing the vocal cords which produce the voice.
3. The Articulatory System: Its consists of the following organs:
A. The nose
B. The mouth.
The mouth includes the following:
A. The tongue
B. The teeth
C. The roof of the mouth
D. the lips.

48. The Air-stream Mechanism
a)Pulmonic
b) Glottic
c) Velaric

49. We breathe in and breathe out air. When we breathe in
air, no sound is produced but it is not so in the case of
breathe outing air form the lungs. Sound is produced
when air is puff out form the lungs.
Technically speaking, for the production of speech we
need air stream mechanism. There are three types of
air-stream mechanism. They are as follows :
A. Pulmonic
B. Glottalic
C. Veleric

50. A. Pulmonic air-stream mechanism is
one which consists of the lungs and the
respiratory muscles, which set the sir-stream
in motion.
• Pulmonic Sounds
• Air flow is directed outwards towards
the oral cavity
• Pressure built by compression of lungs
• English [p], [n], [s], [l], [e]

51. B. Glottalic air-stream mechanism is one in
which the larynx, with the glottis firmly closed,
is moved up or down to initiate the air-stream.
•Glottic Egressive Sounds
•Air flow is directed outwards
towards the oral Cavity
• Pressure built by pushing up
closed glottis [p’], [t’], [k’]

52. C. Veleric air-stream mechanism is one in which the back
of the tongue in firm contract with the soft palate also
called the velum, is pushed forward or pulled back to
initiate the air-stream.
Velaric Sounds
•Air flow is directed inwards from the oral
cavity
•Pressure reduced by forming velaric and
alveolar closure and pulling down tongue

53. The Types of Air-stream

54. We have just seen that the air-stream
mechanism is of three types. Let us
note that the air-stream is of the
following two types :
Air-streams
Egressive Ingressive

55. 1. The Egressive air-stream is one in which
the air is pushed out (It must be
remembered that for the sounds of English
and most of the Indian languages, we
generally make use of an egressive pulmonic
air-stream, that is, the air is pushed out of
the lungs).
2. The ingressive an-streams is one in which
the air is pulled out (It is interesting to note
that Sindhi language has some sounds
produced with an ingressive glottalic air-stream.)